Faith. Family. Food

Things are looking up over here at Leah’s place; we’ve moved over to a self hosted site so I have Leahboden.com all to myself! I also have a little more freedom to move around, be creative and build for the future – so who’s coming over?

It looks the same at the moment but we have some great things planned for 2016 so watch this space…

If you ‘follow’ me here, you won’t necessarily follow me there so you’ll need to add me to your blog roll again!

Still finding my way around and rearranging furniture etc but please take us as you find us and I’ll put the kettle on (smile).

And here we are, December has crept up on us and the next thing you know we’ll be cleaning up bit of Christmas tree and making goals for 2016. I keep hearing ‘where did the year go?’. As ever, I’m approaching the end of this year with a desperate plea of the soul to slow down, savour what God has for us in the quiet of Advent and the Christmas season and maybe pick up a few more books whist snuggling with my family by the light of the twinkling Christmas tree lights. Slow is a discipline, it’s intentional and some days I feel like I’m digging my heals in and dust is flying behind me – but slow is my jam, slow is on my ‘to-do’ list (wink).

Take time to be aware that in the very midst of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ’s birth in ancient Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the Bethlehems of our homes and daily lives. Take time, slow down, be still, be awake to the Divine Mystery that looks so common and so ordinary yet is wondrously present – Edward Hays

Our lives are marked with moments and monuments of celebration and gratitude for who God is and what He has done in our lives. Christmas is no different I guess but instead of walking this Christian existence in homes and pockets across our cities, in this season, the whole of the western world are trying to make sense of what Christmas is and means. As Christ followers we get to inject meaning into the those moments and memories.

This Christmas I want to celebrate not consume; I want to open my heart and my home and make Him room.

I want to minimize the crazy and maximise Christ

For the past 6 or so years we’ve walked the advent journey with the Jesse Tree, inspired by Ann Voskamp. Even before the glossy book and the pottery ornaments we used her printables and taught my children that through Genesis to the manger His name is whispered – He is coming. Advent.

We take time every day to read, reflect and place our ornament upon the tree.

Each card, each ornament represents a story through the old testament, a story which represents His character, his coming and our calling to draw Him close. Each story talks of the power of God throughout history, His redemption and salvation for His people. His amazing way of taking what was broken and almost gone, damaged destroyed and making it whole again.

Whatever your tradition or expression at this time is , give Him room. We’re not only preparing our hearts for a birthing but also the dawning of a new year. Consider now what God has done, contemplate what He has ahead for you and allow Christ to do His transforming work in your life.

Let me encourage you at the beginning of advent to allow His peace into your pace, to slow down and give Jesus some space.

If I could have, I would have hand written this note to all of you with a fine writer and had it posted to your house. Here’s the next best thing.

Dear ones,

Thank you for believing that my journey is worth something, thank you for believing that by taking pieces of my story, it will help yours. Some of the pieces that glisten now were once broken and dull; Jesus has taken them into his wondrous workshop and spent time on them. You’re welcome to those too.

I want to remind you that you’re doing an incredible job, your children play, laugh, come to you for comfort and delight in the joy they bring you. I saw how you smiled at your son and your heart brimmed with love afresh; I know that look, I’ve felt it too. I love how you hold your 6 month old close, wrapped into your body – but I know you cry because some things aren’t perfect.

I’ve loved watching your journey, listened to you talk about the books you’ve read, the people who inspire you, the patterns you want to follow. I cried when I’ve heard of your pain, the loss of a promise into the ‘old-familiar’ of a hospital where they see it everyday, but to you (and I) it was your baby and you have to wait for heavens hallelujah to embrace that child again. I remember seeing your face, being brave, but swirling inside. I know that feeling. I’ve felt it.

I know you feel you haven’t made the best choices, the right turns or danced to the same beat as your peers. But God. His redemption is now. His mercies are new today. Your strength is renewed in this moment. He is the God of fresh starts, I thank Him for that everyday.

And I hold your baby, giggle with your toddler, tease your teen because they are an extension of you and that is a sign and a wonder. I see the power of your prayers and the torment of the tears you have sown into this week and I praise God for the fruit of your toil, your labour and your longing. The years don’t go so fast when you live them fully. When we’re present in our children’s lives we live every moment.

That can be exhausting. That can be exhilarating.

I know you feel lonely at times. Sometimes even I miss that look amongst the crowd of masked faces. I like it when you take yours off and tell me. And we cry messy tears and make plans to make it better.

There are many inspired moments and methods and ways to do this and that, but I have to show you Jesus, He is the WAY.

There are many stories and successes and picture of grace and beauty; but I have to teach you through His Word. He is the TRUTH.

There are many elaborate celebrations, well-timed snapshots of light, life and creative callings, but life is the stuff we live between the clicking of the camera. Life is what I want to show you. He is the LIFE.

If my journey ever shows you the way, leads you into truth or draws life from your bones, it’s all because of Jesus.

There’s no such thing as super mum.

Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. James 1:17

Every woman must and will walk her own journey of motherhood treading carefully in faith and fragility

Micah was three weeks old when the excruciating pains in my body left me doubled over; just as I was beginning to recover and my womb had reduced back to that pear-like shape that the Miriam Stoppard books so beautifully describes. The bleeding and the after pain and the walking like John Wayne had diminished and then I got ill. It was a summer’s day; the warm sun was glistening and comforting on my home birthed boy who needed nothing more than a cloth nappy and a sleeveless white vest showing off his kissable arms. I traipsed my three children to numbing doctor’s appointments, chemists, blood test clinics yet no one seemed to know what was going on. I finally called in the cavalry; my mother-in-law held down the fort downstairs whilst I slept, held my stomach and cried between feeding intervals when she would bring Micah upstairs so I could nourish my son. What would be my final trip up to my doctor’s surgery with my brood resulted in two doctors trying to convince this super-woman-being-so-stubborn mother to go.to.hospital. My infection levels were really sky rocketing and my doctor commented on my obvious high pain threshold and said I shouldn’t have even been walking. I called Dave at work and all fell into place; like it should when we let go.

I was admitted to a private room at the local hospital with a transparent cot by my side so Micah could stay with me; the interns and student doctors and consultants busily researched the appropriate antibiotics for a breastfeeding mother who refused to ‘pump and dump’ and with a final diagnosis of a major kidney infection (mostly major due to the fact they discovered one of my kidneys has been non-functioning since birth) I was cared for, medicated, hydrated and after two nights sent on my way to heal but mostly to realise that it’s ok to not be ok.

Authentic, wholehearted parenting means being exactly that – authentically you. Every woman must and will walk her own journey of motherhood treading carefully in faith and fragility. It’s that perfect place to be able to believe in ourselves and our ability to raise our children but being free to sing of our imperfections and ask for help when we need it.

Let vulnerability reveal her freeing ways and watch; maybe a community of not-got-it-all-together mothers will gather around you.

You may not have a mother rushing to collect your washing, a neighbour eagerly ready with a casserole and home-baked ciabatta. You may not have sisters to help scrub and clean and de-ice your windscreen but you do have a voice. Let vulnerability reveal her freeing ways and watch; maybe a community of not-got-it-all-together mothers will gather around you.

It really is ok to not have it all together, to not get it right first (or second) time, to be in a mess or not quite know what your next move is. Grace is the forever giving and living hand of God reaching out and saying ‘let’s do this together’; and His grace is infectious and explosive and leaks out of us and makes us like Him. So let’s reach out to each other in heart and words and deeds and let’s ‘do this together’.

I have many childhood memories of that crazy cat Garfield constantly moaning about how he hated Mondays; that mindset and culture has seeped into our lives, (beyond the cat community) and we generally start our week longing for the weekend!

I guess this comes from the stark contrast between our work and our play. We can’t handle the difference, and If we don’t find joy in our work, then Monday will be hard.

It seems like such a waste doesn’t it? God gave us 7 glorious days; 6 to work and 1 to rest. All to be done as unto the Lord and for His glory. Yet we value 1 (or 2 at a stretch) but the other 5 seem to be kept in the dark.

The book ‘The Practice of the Presence of God‘, contains interviews and letters from a man named Brother Lawrence. He was not a religious professional; he was one of the laymen who lived alongside the monks who inspired and provided support for those in the community through his attitude to his work and its place in his life.

In his business in the kitchen (to which he had naturally a great aversion), having accustomed himself to do everything there for the love of God, and with prayer, upon all occasions, for His grace to do his work well, he found everything easy during the fifteen years that he had been employed there.

He spent much of his time in the kitchen; peeling potatoes was more essential for Brother Lawrence’s spiritual growth than attending the evening prayer service because Brother Lawrence recognised that God was there in the kitchen as much as he was in the chapel.

Mondays are the start of the work week which offer new beginnings 52 times a year!
― David Dweck

If we have the right perspective about our work, no matter how menial or mundane it may seem, our daily activities can shape our characters and change our lives (and the lives of those around us).

Monday is an opportunity to press the restart button, shape our week and allow transformation to take place through our heart and mindset towards our work. Whether you’re tackling life in the home and mountains of laundry or happen to be the CEO of a large corporation – your work is holy and meaningful.

The prayers we weave into the matching of socks, the stirring of oatmeal, the reading of stories, they survive fire.
― Ann Voskamp

So, after months of trying to get this working for me I’m finally making some headway yay!

Simply put, Periscope enables you to “go live” via your mobile device anytime and anywhere. The app enables you to become your own “on the go” broadcasting station, streaming video and audio to any viewers who join your broadcast.

I’m not committing to a schedule at the moment but may do in the new year.

You can follow me here (search for me on your app @leah_boden) or catch the replays on Katch.me (see below for example).